Rally Australia Ford drivers turn on style

Ford Martini World Rally Team drivers Colin McRae and Nicky Grist and
team-mates Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya provided thrilling entertainment for
the 20,000 fans gathered in Perth's riverside Langley Park for the opening
speed test of the Rally ...

Ford Martini World Rally Team drivers Colin McRae and Nicky Grist and
team-mates Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya provided thrilling entertainment for
the 20,000 fans gathered in Perth's riverside Langley Park for the opening
speed test of the Rally Australia this evening.

Their Ford Focus World Rally Cars were in spectacular form as they raced
around the purpose-built 2.20km loose surface special stage in the heart of
the city. As darkness fell, floodlights heightened the atmosphere in the
grandstands as two cars at a time sped around the sweeping bends and over
the towering jumps.

McRae posted fifth fastest time after an exciting head-to-head duel with
Sainz, who was ninth. Tapio Laukkanen and Kaj Lindstrom, driving a third
Ford-entered Focus World Rally Car, was seventh fastest as just 1.6sec
covered the top 10 cars.

"It was a fun start to a very important rally," said McRae. "It's fantastic
to see the fans having such a great time but we must forget about that now
because the competition begins for real when we go into the forests in the
morning. We've all got world championship titles to concentrate on."

The Western Australia event is the 13th and penultimate round of the FIA
World Rally Championship. Ford Martini lies second in the manufacturers'
series, just two points off the lead, while McRae and Sainz are two of the
four drivers in the running for the drivers' crown.

News from our Rivals
World championship leader Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot) was fastest by just
0.7sec from team-mate Francois Delecour. Juha Kankkunen (Subaru),
four-times winner of the rally, was tied for third with Didier Auriol
(Seat). Petter Solberg (Subaru) was tied with McRae in fifth. None of the
leading drivers suffered any problems.

Tomorrow's Route
The first leg, the longest of all, continues tomorrow with eight forest
stages based around Mundaring, east of Perth, ending with a repeat of the
Langley Park test. After leaving Perth at 09.00, drivers cover another
147.76km of competitive driving before returning to the city at 20.21.